Letters from War
by Lupus Silvae
Summary: After resigning from G.U.N, Sonic's life was supposed to settle into simplicity. However, a menacing note has made that impossible, and may just prove to be the confrontation that kills the heroes off once and for all. Sequel to Incinerated.
1. The Note

Sonic sighed and shifted in the chair in the G.U.N. lobby. The metal armrests were hardly comfortable, but with his backspines slipped carefully over them and his legs resting on the other chair, he made the most of it. He had firmly decided, along with Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, to resign from his position as a G.U.N. agent. The amount of trouble it had caused was definitely not worth it, and so all had decided the safest option was to return to their regular hero duties. Knuckles dropped off the agency first, deciding the Master Emerald needed far more guarding than it was receiving. Amy had quit soon after, since she now blamed G.U.N. for Sonic's near-death experience. Their requests were processed quickly, as was Tails', when it came.

Sonic's resignation was apparently more of a problem. The Commander tried to persuade the cobalt hedgehog to stay, saying that the agency needed him. Of course, Sonic begged to differ, as Shadow and Rouge would certainly fulfill the needs of the agency as well as pick up where Sonic left off. Even though they had no choice but to let Sonic go, his papers were processed as slowly as possible, and the Commander continued to drop hints that it was not too late for him to change his mind and stay with G.U.N. as an agent. Each time, Sonic declined with little emotion or tolerance.

Trouble with G.U.N. had not been the only interesting thing happening since Luktani. Soon after the dark feline left and Sonic had regained his strength, he proposed. After having such a brush with death that his heart had stopped beating, even if only for a short period of time, Sonic swore never to postpone anything important again. He had come dangerously close to losing Amy, and then his life. There was no way he would ever make that mistake again. So, one midsummer evening, he asked Amy the question that she had dreamed of for years. Naturally, she accepted, and the news spread like wildfire, as the press ate it up like free chocolate cookies. Just the thought of Amy made Sonic glow with joy. She would be his… forever.

The rustle of paper made Sonic's ears twitch in the direction of the receptionist's desk, and he leapt to his feet and dashed over to the counter. All he wanted was an official piece of paper that allowed him to leave for good, but the receptionist seemed to have other ideas. She emerged with a small scrap of paper and a confused look on her face. "Sonic?" she inquired, glancing at the hedgehog.

"Who else would it be?" growled Sonic impatiently, motioning towards the empty lobby.

"Sorry. I've got your papers almost ready, but this was left in your box, so I thought it might be important." After handing the paper to Sonic, the young blonde disappeared again to fetch the initial papers requested. Sonic gave her an odd look as she left, but unfolded the small note. Instead of handwriting or typed text, as was expected, the letters had been cut and pasted one by one out of various magazines and newspapers. Amusingly enough, it looked like it had been snatched right out of an old detective show. With a perplexed expression, Sonic read the note:

_rIng ArOUnd thE Rosie_

_FragiLe as a pOsie_

_ashes, ThrAshes_

_oNe New Kill._

At first, he assumed it was a practical joke, when he noticed something odd about the poem itself: Rosie was capitalized. In fact, the entire thing had a very menacing tone to it; written as a threat. Sonic snapped at the receptionist as she returned to the front: "Who left this?"

The girl jumped, startled. "I-- I don't know." She glanced at the computer. "There's no record of who left it." In a gust of wind, the lobby was empty again, save for scattered papers in need of signatures. The receptionist peeked out from behind the counter, alone to ponder the situation and the contents of the note, as well as to clean up the mess left behind from the cobalt hedgehog's rushed exodus.

* * *

Well, here it is. The first chapter of the story option in my poll, that won by a landslide, mind you. I didn't expect that many people would be interested in a sequel, but apparently, they are. If you have not read _Incinerated, _I can almost guarantee you that this story will not make sense. You can try, but all the history to the events here are written there. I highly suggest reading it first. Thankee.

~Wolf~


	2. Wrath of the Flames

Faster than sound, Sonic bolted out of Future City and straight to Station Square. The trip normally took about thirty minutes, but seeing as Sonic was running far faster than he normally did in traffic, his arrival time was much sooner. As he approached Amy's house, he saw dark clouds of smoke billowing in the sky around it. He pressed himself even harder, desperate to reach her. In a whirl of dust and debris he came to a screeching halt, darting into the house before the score of firemen outside could stop him. His emerald eyes scanned the flame-filled house anxiously.

The flames licked at his cobalt fur hungrily, seeming to come from every direction. They heated the room with an intensity Sonic was sure was what was keeping the firemen, who were _supposed _to be helping, outside the house. Unsure of where to go or where Amy was, he let his instinct guide him. Angry shouts echoed from outside, most likely from the firemen who realized someone had gone in the house. Sonic vaguely remembered a newspaper article where a two-story house burned to the ground in twenty minutes. He did not know how long Amy's house had been on fire, but he was sure his time was running short.

Over the snapping of the fire and crashing of failing support beams, he heard voices that were not from outside. Flicking his ears in the direction of the noise, he bolted up the stairs and glanced around, hoping to catch the sound again. While it did not repeat itself, only one door was shut out of every door upstairs: the one to a guest room. It was always left open, as the sun shone directly in it during the majority of the day, and would heat to an incredibly uncomfortable temperature if it was not aired out. Sonic attempted to open it, but found it to be locked. A cheap bolt was certainly _not _going to hold him back.

He backed up against the opposite wall, which was searing with heat from the flames on the other side, and propelled himself off of it. He curled into a tight ball seconds before reaching the door. The spindash allowed his quills to cut easily through the weak wood, and he landed, crouched, in the room. The first thing he saw was a dark figure outside an unnatural ring of flames. The ring was the only thing on fire in this particular room, which was odd, considering the rest of the house was essentially its own personal oven. The silhouette against the fire was definitely not Amy; it was far too robust for that, but it was just as surely _not _a fireman.

Sonic raced over and knocked the intruder down, who was hissing and spitting with anger as he tried to push Sonic off. His fur was pitch black, and his amber eyes were fiery with anger. The noises he continued to make, as well as his long claws and thick fur, revealed he was feline. "Who are you?!" snarled Sonic, pinning the cat down by the neck.

Before the villain could answer, a cry pierced through the deafening roar of the flames: "_Sonic!_" It was unmistakably Amy's voice, admittedly a very scared, shrill version of it, but hers nonetheless. The cobalt hero tossed all thoughts of the cat out of his mind as he shot towards the ring of fire in the center of the room, from the center of which the scream had come. His momentum allowed him to leap easily over the fire and into the middle, where Amy was cowering and crying. He scooped her up bridal-style and leapt out of the enclosing circle, which was now spreading to join the rest of the flames in the hallway. The cat Sonic had pinned was no where to be seen.

"Amy, get out of here! Before the flames block you out!" he shouted, pointing towards the exit.

"What about you?!" she exclaimed.

"I'll be fine, just _go!_" Reluctantly, Amy ran out of the house as Sonic went in the opposite direction, searching for any sign of the ebony cat he had seen earlier. Dodging flames as he went, Sonic made his way throughout the second story of the house, hoping to see just a glimpse of the intruder. It was when he was about to give up and head out to safety that he saw the feline trying to escape up to the attic. Seeing as the cat was already the majority of the way up the ladder, Sonic made no attempts to grab the intruder's tail or paw. Instead, he shot up after him, only to see him struggling to open and climb out of the small third-story window.

In a whirl of limbs and tails, Sonic pounced on the cat to prevent his escape. His momentum sent both flying through the glass. Shards of it cut across Sonic's quills as the cat landed on top of him, but the hedgehog was used to absorbing falls, and rolled out from under the feline soon after impact. After pinning him down again, Sonic glared into his amber eyes, which were lit with hatred and loathing. Sonic found this odd, seeing as he had never met the cat before in his life. At least, as far as he could recall. Normally, people did not hate him until _after_ he thwarted multiple versions of their plans.

"Lemme go!" the feline growled, struggling against Sonic's grip. It was a hopeless attempt, as adrenaline provided the already-powerful hedgehog with more strength than usual. Not to mention the fact he had seen this particular cat inside a flaming house with Amy, so his temper was anything but controlled.

"Answer me first, then I'll _see_ about letting you go! Who are you?!"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does to me!" shouted Sonic, forced to make his voice heard over the collapsing house behind him. Obviously, the flames were doing their job. "Who sent you, then?"

"The letter that tipped you off," hissed the feline. "All your answers are there. Now no more questions." The villain scraped his claws across Sonic's muzzle, who yelped and backed off, allowing the cat to escape. The hedgehog wiped the blood away with the back of his hand, glaring at the retreating figure. He could easily catch up with him, but Amy had priority. Besides, he had a feeling the cat had told him all he needed to know for now.

"Sonic! What happened to you?!" exclaimed Amy, her jade eyes wide as Sonic emerged from behind the house. He was certainly in far worse condition than when he had entered initially. In addition to the blood on his muzzle and quills, he was coated with ashes and soot, and his fur was singed in a few places. The female ran to her hero and embraced him tightly, tears streaming down her cheeks and landing on his ash-covered chest. Sonic returned the hug as firemen approached him, all looking more than a little angry.

"You shouldn't have run into the house. You could have been killed," growled an older man, his hair and moustache grey with age. It was obvious he was in charge, since the others simply nodded in agreement.

"Yeah? Well, if I hadn't gone in, then _she _would have died, for all the help you were!" barked Sonic, ears laid back as he glared at the chief.

"We didn't know she was in there," the fireman argued.

"Wait a sec, isn't that your _job_? To find out if people are still _in _the building that's on fire?"

"Yes, but someone came out just as we arrived and assured us the building was empty."

Sonic's ears perked. "And it wasn't her?" he inquired, nodding towards the hedgehog in his arms.

"Definitely not," replied the chief. "The one who told us the building was empty was a brown cat."

"Not black?" pressed Sonic.

The fireman glared at him. "If I'd meant black, I would've said black."

"Touché," muttered the azure hedgehog. "Fine, then. Seeing as the house is nothing more than a pile of ashes now, thanks to you, I'll be going."

A few of the younger firemen tried to protest, seeing as the hedgehog was injured, but the chief refused to let them. He would much prefer the hedgehog out of the way as they worked, despite protocol. Sonic swept Amy up again, then took off down the road to his apartment back in Station Square. Amy had stopped crying, but her muzzle remained buried in his chest, as if keeping the world from view would prevent anything else from happening. It did not matter whether or not she did, seeing as Sonic was just as determined to ensure nothing else threatened her. No matter what.

* * *

Omigosh, an update! Okay, I have to say, writing two stories at the same time is driving me crazy. However, seeing as I have people following both this and ToK, neither will get bumped. STILL. Note that the updates won't be as steady, and you might get some spans of time where the other story is updated instead. I'm going to try and keep it every other week for this story, but it's whenever the next chapter's ready, really. Thanks for the support,

~Wolf~


	3. More Questions

When they reached the apartment complex, Sonic put Amy back down, and they walked the rest of the way. While Amy had moved after the incident with G.U.N., Sonic had remained in his old apartment. Sonic said nothing, as his thoughts were consumed with what the ebony cat had said, as well as the information he was given by the fire chief. Who told them no one was in the building? According to the chief himself, the cat who had spoken to them was not black, like the feline who had trapped Amy. Sonic dug through his memory for a glimpse of a second cat in the building when he was there, but all he could recall were flames, the black cat, and Amy. No second feline existed, even in the corners of his eyesight.

"_Sonic!_" The cobalt hedgehog came to a sudden stop, looking over his shoulder, where Amy was standing a ways behind him. She had a confused look on her face, and motioned towards a door. "You walked right by your apartment."

Sonic blinked, then shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He blushed a little as he opened the door, motioning for Amy to go in ahead of him. The small living space had not changed at all. It opened directly into the living room, and the furniture was still in exactly the same place. Amy snickered. "I can tell you're a guy."

"Not now, Ames," sighed Sonic, rolling his eyes. "I have to get this blood off my fur before I go insane. I want you to look at this letter and tell me what you think." Amy glanced at the scrap of paper she was given, smudged with a little blood and just as dusty as Sonic was. Upon reading what it said, she gasped and glanced up to ask Sonic where it had come from, but the hedgehog was gone. She released an exasperated sigh. Of _course _he would leave her with an ominous note stained with blood before taking off. She sat on the couch and placed it on the coffee table, grabbing a pad of paper and a pen from the drawer.

It did not make sense that the sender would revert back to "ransom-note" style communication. With all the technology, it would have been far easier to send an e-mail from a public computer with a random account, or call Sonic's home and leave a voice-altered message. There was absolutely no reason she could think of to send a letter whose characters were cut and pasted one by one. It would have taken far more work and time than any of the alternate methods she could think of. The sender had to have been making a point with this particular method that they could not make in another, easier form.

The cerise female jumped as Sonic entered the living room, shaking the leftover water off of his quills. His emerald green eyes were somber and concerned, which was uncharacteristic enough to throw Amy into a quick explanation before he had to say anything. "I think we should look at the note itself, more than the poem. Start big and go small, y'know?"

Sonic nodded. "Makes sense. Got anything?"

"Not really," sighed Amy admittedly. "All I know is that there's something about the cut-and-paste style of the letter. It seems too old-fashioned and out-of-place. There's no convenience."

"Yeah. Not to mention really cliché."

"Agreed," Amy laughed. "Anyway, I've never been that good at the puzzle solving bit, but I know who is."

"Tails," Sonic chortled, showing the first sign of lightheartedness since the fire. "Of course. I'll call him and see if he can meet us here. Then maybe we can get some answers."

While Sonic walked over to the phone to call the vulpine, Amy glared at the paper, as if that would make the answer obvious. She reread it over and over again, occasionally whispering to herself to see if there was a play on the words. The only thing she found was that the poem did not flow at all. "It's a sucky play on a happy children's poem," she growled.

"Yes, but it's made a point," replied Sonic, entering the room again.

"Tails?" inquired Amy, ignoring Sonic's statement.

"On his way. Now, did you get _anything _while you were muttering? It was a bit distracting, hearing you reading that over and over while trying to talk to Tails."

"Sorry. The only thing I see is that all the capital letters are the same font."

"So? Times New Roman's pretty popular."

"Yes, it is. Except this isn't Times New Roman."

"You know your fonts that well?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Forget it. If you really want to know, it's Sylfaen. Only used in the Megalo Station Times."

"So it's probably all one headline?" asked Sonic.

"Or a bunch of different headlines. Either way, it has to be from the same newspaper. That could be telling us where these people are."

Sonic nodded, looking at the letter. He snatched up the pad and pen and began scribbling on it.

"What are you doing?" asked Amy, leaning over his shoulder to see. Hastily written on the sheet of paper were the following letters:

_I A O U E R F L O T A N N K_

"These are all the letters from the Megalo Station Times, according to you," explained Sonic. "If they're all one headline, then they should spell something."

"But we have no clue how many words it is, or whether or not it's the entire headline, or even just _one_ headline!" exclaimed Amy.

"Yeah, I know, but it's a start. And we can at least work on it until Tails gets here."

"I guess," sighed Amy. "I'll make some lunch for us. You get started."

Leaving Sonic with the note this time, Amy scavenged around the kitchen for something remotely edible. "You really should stock up more often," she called.

"I'm rarely here, Ames!" Sonic snapped back, looking at Amy, who was digging through a cabinet.

"No excuse."

Ignoring Amy's nagging, Sonic tried to focus on the letter in his hand. He had to admit, "Iaouerflotannk" wasn't getting him anywhere. Every vowel possible was there, and there was no way to tell how many words they formed. One? Two? More? Eggman had been laying low for a while, and he was not quite so cliché as to send this note. That enemy was out of the question. Sonic sifted through all the enemies he could think of through the years. The list was painfully long. _Eggman-Nega, Metal Sonic, Pir' Oth Ix, Chaos, Dark Gaia, Black Doom… there's too many, and none of them would do something like this!_

A knock at the door shook Sonic out of his circular argument, and Tails entered without waiting for a reply. The fox smiled cheerfully at the sight of his adoptive brother, and adjusted the small pair of glasses on his muzzle. Apparently, the kitsune had spent a few too many hours poring over blueprints and books in poor light. Even so, it did not deter from the fox's cheerful countenance. "Hey, Sonic! You said something about a puzzle?"

Sonic sighed and motioned towards the paper on the table. "More of a conundrum. But, yeah, we need you. Here's what we have so far…"

* * *

And the plot thins... *ahem* Woot! An update! Sorry this took so long. School's starting back, and as much as I hate to say it, it gets priority. Still, both this and Tales of Knighthood will continue to be updated. Just don't expect them to be very steady or anything. Anyway, hope the letter gives you something to chew on 'till the next chapter.

~Wolf~


	4. Unwarranted Answers

The three friends sat around Sonic's living room, poring over the letter and Tails' scribbled notes. Amy had given up trying to find food in Sonic's vacant house, and relented to ordering a pizza. The cobalt hedgehog seemed the most keen on solving the puzzle before them, but Tails was making the most progress. He pointed to the letters Sonic had written out. "The best way to start solving a scrambled word is to choose common word endings. We have an 'e' and an 'r', which could be an adjective. Harder, faster, things like that."

"The other letters don't let us spell harder or faster, Tails," commented Sonic.

"No, but those were just examples. Here, Sonic, I want you to take the letters and write out all the words you can spell with them. Amy, you look at the poem itself. Try and associate things in the poem with past events or things you have planned."

"What're you going to do?" inquired Amy, taking the letter.

The kitsune grinned. "I'm going to solve it."

Apparently, the challenge triggered Sonic's competitive side. "Oh, yeah?" he growled playfully, glaring at Tails with a glimmer of mischief in his emerald eyes.

"Yeah."

"Oh, it's on!"

Amy, feeling indignantly left out, chimed in: "Whoever solves it first gets the last slice of Vanilla's blueberry cobbler!"

"Hey, that's mine!" objected Sonic.

"Prove it, True Blue!"

Bolting off in different directions, all three of them were determined to solve their part puzzle and claim the last of the creamy, juicy treat for themselves. Tails sat at Sonic's writing desk, glaring at the papers on the table and oftentimes pushing the glasses up on his muzzle. He scribbled quickly and furiously, writing down whatever he felt was important or could prove to be a useful detail.

Sonic had chosen to leave the apartment altogether, running towards a field a few miles away where he could run, think, and write down whatever he needed to on a scrap of paper he had taken with him. Amy was lying on the couch, reading the poem over and over again, hoping to notice something she missed before. They all had the same problem: not knowing what it was they were looking for.

The first one to come up with something was Tails. "Amy, Amy!" he cried, leaping to his feet and racing over to the female. Amy immediately covered her scribble-paper, in case Tails was trying to read her notes.

"What?"

"I know what the headline is! I just have to cross-reference it against Megalo Station Times, to double check if it was an actual headline, and what the article was. I'm gonna go and do that, you stay here and wait for Sonic. I'll call you from Station Square Library, alright?"

"Sure, Tails, but hurry!" Amy watched as the fox bolted out the door, his tails waving wildly with excitement. She turned back to the letter, then nearly smacked herself for her stupidity. She had not thought to ask him what the headline actually _was_, and now she would have to wait for him to call. _Curse my slow reflexes._

***

Tails' sapphire eyes scanned the computer screen, filled with headlines from papers two years back. If there were any significance to this article to the sender, it would probably be here. If not, he would be forced to check the archives. He hoped to avoid that situation. The older library had absolutely no useful search engine, so every headline had to be found manually, the article scanned for information. It was a painstakingly long process that involved numerous breaks for coffee, but it proved fruitful in the end.

"Aha!" exclaimed Tails, clicking the headline of the article he was searching for. He was answered by a chorus of shushing from the other occupants of the library, and he laid his ears back, embarrassed. He gazed at the screen, recognizing the unique Sylfaen font of the Megalo Station Times. His heart skipped a beat when he realized his guess at the headline had only been partially correct. "Luktani of Aeron," his guess, was definitely included, but that was not all of it. Not to mention, the article was very recent. He had not noticed his search had gotten so close to present time. Shaking his head, he focused on the article:

_**String of Murders Linked to Luktani of Aeron**_

_In a recent chain of events, police in Megalo Station have decided that the murders plaguing the city have the signature of the professional assassins of Aeron. Each site was burned to the ground after the murder, often with a ring of fire still burning around the victim. It was believed Aeron's leader, Luktani, had killed a G.U.N. Special Agent from Station Square, but he returned soon after the cat disappeared. Now, it seems as if the assassins are making a comeback._

_Every victim has had the signature of the ring of fire around them, as well as a note left at each site demanding the same Special Agent that was "killed" by Luktani to come to a location that we cannot disclose. G.U.N. refuses to tell us which Special Agent Aeron is after, but they say Luktani herself is nowhere near the city. Megalo Station police assure us they are doing everything possible to prevent another murder. A recent survey suggests that the public would rather have Sonic Kizer Hedgehog going after this killer, but Megalo Station authorities refuse to alert the hero to the issue._

Tails gripped the computer desk tightly, glaring at the screen. Luktani was back, and no one thought to tell Sonic! G.U.N. obviously knew, but did not tell him that there was a deadly killer searching for _him_ specifically! Forcing himself to focus even when he was so angry, Tails printed out a copy of the article and stepped outside the library to call Amy. He paused before he called, gazing at the darkened sky with the pinpricks of light scattered above.

This entire ordeal with Luktani was supposed to be over. Sonic was okay, Luktani had disappeared, and even G.U.N. had been reasonable. At least, they had been with him. For whatever reason, they still refused to work with Sonic and his resignation. Now they refused to tell him about Luktani at all? Surely they had their reasons. He just was not entirely sure what they were yet. Tails sighed. It would all fall into place. Maybe Sonic knew something. With a ray of hope that Sonic could shed some light on the mystery, he dialed the apartment.

It rang twice before the female picked up. "Well? Any luck?"

"Is Sonic back yet?" inquired Tails, ignoring the question.

"Yeah, lil' bro, you're on speaker phone," answered Sonic.

"Good. I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first?"

"Good," stated the two hedgehogs simultaneously.

"Well, the good news is I solved the puzzle and I know how to fix this problem. Kind of."

"And the bad news?" pressed Amy.

"Luktani's back, and she's looking for Sonic."

"What?!" exclaimed Sonic. "What, for the love of Chaos, does she think she's doing?! I told her to stay _far _away from here!"

"Sonic, calm down," barked Tails. "And what are you talking about? Didn't she almost kill _you_?"

"Er, uh, yeah," Sonic stuttered, trying to backtrack. He had tripped up over that lie numerous times since Luktani had left, and it was getting harder and harder to keep his promise to Knuckles that their skirmish would be a secret. "But she's looking for me? Personally?"

"Sort of. She wasn't at any of the murder sites herself, but her assassins were. She wants to meet you somewhere, but the article didn't say the exact location. G.U.N. knows, though."

"Dang," muttered Sonic. "Alright. I'll visit with G.U.N. in the morning and see where Luktani wants to meet. Thanks, Tails."

"Anytime, Sonic. Be careful."

"I will."

"Bye, then. And good luck!"


	5. There's Just One Condition

Sonic's temper could be described many ways that morning. "Controlled" was not a synonym that came to mind. His feet hit the pavement hundreds of times per second as he raced towards Future City and G.U.N.'s headquarters. Just yesterday he had been there _trying _to resign from his position as a Special Agent, but now he was racing back to find out why on Mobius they had refused to tell him a deadly assassin was set on killing him. _Again._

Needless to say, the poor receptionist who had "helped" Sonic the day before was also scheduled to work the shift he returned. It had taken the better part of the afternoon to clean the room from Sonic's exit that day, and his re-entry blew papers all over the place once again. The young blonde glanced at the trashed room, then at Sonic, and gave him a look that the hedgehog was sure would kill. "You could be a little more careful, you know."

"Yeah, sorry. Where's the Commander?" barked Sonic.

"He's in his office, where-- Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" she called after him, watching as the papers were whisked back up into the air. She slammed her hand down on the phone's intercom system, trying to alert the Commander to his visitor before the hedgehog arrived. "Sir, Sonic Kizer Hedge--"

"I know, Cassidy. Forget it." The Commander was glaring at the blue hedgehog in question from the other side of his desk, the look he was receiving was just as dark as the one he was giving.

"I deserve an explanation," growled Sonic, his emerald eyes burning with barely-contained fury.

"About what?"

"This." Sonic slammed a paper he had brought with him on the Commander's desk, watching his face for a reaction. The Commander paled a little, seeing the article typed in unique Sylfaen font, revealing information he had worked very hard to cover. "Why didn't you tell me Luktani was back?!"

"It's a long story, and I assure you, we have our reasons, but--"

"No buts!" snapped Sonic. "Amy was nearly killed yesterday, by the same assassin who nearly killed me. She's been trying to contact me, and you _knew!_ Why the heck didn't you tell me, dang it?!"

"Calm down, and I'll explain, but you have to promise not to interrupt me until I'm done."

Sonic snorted, but sat in the chair opposite the Commander just the same. After both were settled, the Commander pulled out a file out of a safe under his desk. "These are rightfully yours, so we'll start there. Read them."

Inside the blue folder were at least a score of letters, all typed out, and all addressed to Sonic. Each contained a location, which varied per letter, and a date to meet with Luktani. Every one of them was already past. "What--"

"Shut it. I told you not to interrupt. Now, as you can see, those are all from Luktani, and they all demand a meeting with you. They are not addressed to G.U.N., but to you directly. However, when you signed on for the agency, we reserved the right to go through any mail that comes through here. We saw Luktani was trying to get back in contact with you, and we intercepted the letters."

"Why the heck would you do that?!" shouted Sonic.

"I suppose I'm not going to get through this without questions. If you must know, this was after your friends had resigned and before you told us you wanted to. We weren't quite ready to lose our best agent, especially after your friends left, so we kept the letters a secret."

"Okay, maybe I can understand that, but why didn't you at least warn me?"

"We figured we could keep it under wraps. For whatever reason, when we wrote back to Luktani, she refused to come anywhere near us. She said you were to come to her. Of course, we would not allow that. We tried to send agents to attack her and meet her, but her assassins always intercepted them. We couldn't get close. It was after a few of these attempts when things went south."

"Only then?" muttered Sonic. The Commander ignored him.

"Not long after that, there were murders all throughout our jurisdiction. Each one had a letter more sinister than the last, still demanding you. That's why you never went out on any murders after you returned: we didn't want you finding out about the letters or Luktani's attempts to get you to come out of hiding."

"I wasn't hiding!" protested Sonic.

"No, but she didn't know that. We made sure she had no clue where you were."

"Great. So, she thinks I'm a coward."

"Perhaps she does, perhaps she doesn't. The murders became more gruesome and intricate, as she tried to force normal police to call us. They did a couple of times, but we always sent out another team and refused to send you out into the field. That was when you asked to resign."

"And why didn't you let me? That's still unclear," growled Sonic.

"Well, to tell the truth, we weren't entirely sure that we would be able to keep Luktani back. We knew she was trying to make a mission messy enough for us to be forced to use you. When you wanted to resign, we knew that there was still a chance we'd need you: we couldn't get rid of you yet."

"Nice. And you still didn't bother telling me about all this."

"Not yet. We tried to tell the local police to handle the murders themselves and just pass the files from the crime scenes back to us. We didn't want to be too involved, or otherwise Luktani would know she was getting closer."

"So people were dying, and you were doing all this to prevent me from dying?" questioned Sonic. "Your morals are doubtful."

"I see that now, but at the time, you were a precious resource."

"A resource." echoed Sonic. "Nice."

"In a way, you are. The police knew about the situation, but they didn't stay as quiet as we would have liked. They leaked information to the press, who leaked it to the public of Megalo Station. They began demanding we call you in, but we refused comment and tried to explain to them that the police would handle everything."

"That method worked."

"Your commentary is not welcome. The press continued to learn more information, and 'subtly' leaked out enough into one article, in hopes that you would find it. Apparently you have."

"But what about Amy? Why did Luktani attack her? The note at her house didn't give me a location, but just sent me to that article."

"My guess is she was trying to ensure your involvement in the case. She knew if Amy was killed, you would insist on being part of the investigation."

"But why only lead me to the article? Why not give me a location and date like the other letters?"

"That's easy enough to answer." The Commander reached into the safe again and pulled out a letter. It was typed out like the ones Luktani sent first. "She's giving it to you now."

_Sonic Kizer Hedgehog,_

_While my assassins failed in killing your little fiancé, I'm sure your foxy friend has figured out my puzzle. He's a smart one. If not, I hope G.U.N. has sense enough to involve you now. _

_I'm sure you're curious as to where to meet me. I have set up a camp of sorts on the other side of Mystic Ruins, in Blue Hill Zone. I'm sure you're familiar with it, since you travel so often. Meet me on the other side of the field in three days. It will be a truce, so you must come alone. We will discuss tactics there._

_I know Blue Hill Zone is far off, so I'm going to say this now: you'll want a team. I have only one condition for you: the girl stays back. If she comes, she'll be the first to die. I guarantee you._

_Do not doubt me,_

_~Luktani Aeron_

Sonic glared at the letter, and back at the Commander. "You've read this, I assume?"

"You assume correctly. Technically, since we have not processed your resignation papers, we can supply you with a team. And, Luktani said nothing about bringing the fox and echidna."

"But why not Ames? Why does she have that condition?" murmured Sonic, scanning over the letter again.

"I don't know. However, Blue Hill Zone is two day's travel away from here. I will supply the agents to accompany you, and you can ask whomever you want. Although I _highly_ suggest not alerting your fiancé to the situation."

"How the heck can I do that? There's no guarantee I'll come back!"

"It's your choice, and your problem. Meet your team here, tomorrow, at seven in the morning. No backing out."

Sonic glowered at the Commander. "I don't exactly have a choice, now, do I?"

"You always have a choice."


	6. Our Final Hours

As Sonic made his way back to his apartment, he noted his speed was incredibly slower than his trip to G.U.N. headquarters. He knew everything except what Luktani wanted, but he had a way to get his answers. Yet instead of some sort of peace or contentedness, all he felt was confusion and apprehension. His chest churned with emotion at what Amy would say when he left without her. He had trouble deciding if he should even tell her. Should he just disappear and leave a note? No, notes brought back too many painful memories. Yet telling her would cause just as much pain for both of them. He wondered if he should even leave her at all. What if Luktani was just trying to get them all away from Amy?

He sighed as he looked at the darkening grey blue sky, oblivious to the chaos it canopied. They were supposed to be married in a few months, and already things were trying to tear them apart. What if, for some reason, he did not return to Amy? What would she do? What if he was gone for years, and she was tired of waiting? "It wasn't supposed to work this way!" Sonic growled, kicking an innocent pebble down the sidewalk. "It's not supposed to be this complicated! I just want it all to be simple again. I want Luktani to back off, and I want to marry Ames like the _original _plan, and forget this stupid thing ever happened. Hmph… talking to yourself is a sign of insanity. Nice one, hero."

"And talking to yourself about talking to yourself is not helping." Sonic whirled around to see Amy, who was smirking at him. He glanced up to see where he was, only to find himself smack in front of the ruins of her old house.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, wondering the exact same thing for himself.

"It's my house. I thought I'd see how much of it was left while you were gone. But, apparently, you decided to take the long way home. What did the Commander say?"

Of course, she would ask the exact question he was hoping to avoid. "Uh, well… I got my answers," muttered Sonic, taking a sudden interest in the details of his shoes.

"And?" pressed Amy. "What did he say? Why didn't they tell you about Luktani?"

"He… I…"

"Sonic, spit it out."

The cobalt hedgehog glanced up at the sky, taking a shaky breath as he tried to prepare himself for what he was going to say. He wished with all his might that he could just sink into the ground and disappear, or at least avoid this particular confrontation.

"Come on!"

"Luktani wants to meet with me," muttered Sonic, speaking almost as fast as he could run.

"What?"

"Luktani wants to meet with me," he repeated, a little louder.

Amy gazed at him, before snapping into a spectacular tirade as realization set in: "No! I mean… you can't! She nearly killed you before! You can't go meet her again!"

"I'll have… a team. I'm not going alone," murmured Sonic, trying to make up for his brusque revelation.

"But… but she could kill all of us! She's not going to play fair, Sonic! What if we get captured, or worse?!"

"_We_ won't."

"And how do you know that?!"

"Because you're not going."

"Wh-what? What do you mean I'm not going?! If you're going to see Luktani again, I refuse to let you go without me!"

"Luktani only had one condition with me meeting her in the Blue Hill Zone--"

"Blue Hill Zone?! Do you realize how far away that is? Sonic, no! You can't! Not and leave me behind!"

"I don't have a choice, Amy!" Sonic yelled, laying his ears back. "I want you with me just as badly as you want to come, but Luktani said if I brought you, you would be the first to die!"

"The first?!" screamed Amy, hot tears forming in her aquamarine eyes. "She's set on killing you, don't you see that?! You can't go!"

"People are dying because Luktani wants to meet with me! If I stay back, she'll just keep killing them!"

"But what about you? What if she kills you?!" she shrieked, tears falling freely. She held her ears with her hands, as if trying to block out some nightmarish dream from her head. Sonic reached out and grabbed Amy's arms, trying to calm her down. She struggled for a moment before letting him embrace her, and she consented to sobbing quietly into his chest.

"Amy," Sonic whispered, his muzzle brushing up against her ear. "Do you trust me?"

"Y-yes," she murmured. "With… with my life."

"Now you have to trust me with mine. I'll come home, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

The hedgehog smiled softly. "I don't. Now, I leave tomorrow at seven to head towards Blue Hill Zone."

"Already?"

"Yes… I can't put it off. G.U.N. made sure of that."

Amy spat something too obscene to reiterate, causing Sonic to smirk.

"Trust me; I've already been through that. But… but we can have this last day together."

"Sonic… what about us?"

"Of course," he chortled, smiling. "As long as you're willing to wait, we'll be married the second I get back."

"I'll wait forever. I promise."

"Then it's settled. C'mon, we can at least enjoy today." Sonic released Amy and gently took her hand, and the two began walking down the familiar street. The sky that had been ominous looking before was soon pouring raindrops down on the earth below. Each droplet that spattered against the sidewalk made it one darker shade of gray, and soon the water was coming down in buckets. On a normal day, Sonic would have insisted they return to the indoors, but he made an exception. Amy had always liked the rain, enjoying the feeling of it hitting her muzzle and her closed eyes as it dripped down her fur. While he could not share the same sentiments, he did care enough to stay outside.

They entered a small park in the middle of Station Square, the only one for miles with the new construction. It was abandoned, as all the people and Mobians had raced for their dry homes. The pond was covered in ripples as each raindrop hit its crystal blue surface, the ducks swimming happily in the weather. "Can we sit there?" murmured Amy, motioning towards a bench. The wooden seat was soaking wet, despite the fact that it was under a fully leafed oak tree. It overlooked the pond, and was normally the most sought after rest spot in the park.

Sonic smiled softly and led her over, allowing her to sit before he took his place beside her. "I don't want you to go," she whispered.

"I know, Ames, but I don't have a choice. I'm going to ask the Commander to leave a team of agents with you, so in case Luktani's playing some other angle, I know you're safe."

"Thanks, but I'll be fine. I just wish you didn't have to go so far!"

"I'd much rather stay here, you know that. But I promise, I'll call you the second I get there, and every day I'm stuck in that Chaos-forsaken war zone, alright?" he murmured, nuzzling her ear.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Amy curled up against his chest, ignoring the fact that they were both absolutely soaked to the bone. Her aquamarine eyes were somber as they gazed out over the pond, watching the rain and the clouds. Tears streaked down her muzzle, hidden by the rain. She was never more grateful that Sonic could not see her true emotions. It was her worst nightmare coming true, and no matter how she argued it, she could not keep Sonic from going. Even if she could, she knew that it would not be the answer to prayer she wanted it to be. Luktani would still be hunting them down, and more innocent people would be dying. "It's not fair," she muttered after a time.

"No, it's not. But it'll all work out," Sonic assured her, his voice soft and comforting. Amy knew the long spans of silence in the conversation made it awkward, but she was in limbo-land. She did not want Sonic to find out she was crying, but her speaking first was the only way to make him speak, and his voice reassuring her that he would return and things would be normal was all she wanted to hear. Luckily, he continued for her. "Amy, I know this hurts, but really, it won't be all that different."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I ignored you for the majority of my life. You know that. But you pressed on, and I fell for you. Granted, it took a while, and I was stubborn, but you did it. Everyone knew. But remember, when I had to leave you to find Eggman, while you ran with Tails?"

"Yes, and I hated it! If he hadn't brought Chaos--"

"That's not the point. I've left you before. This will be no different. I came back from that, and I've come back from Luktani. We're going to be fine."

"You promise?"

Sonic paused before answering. He had told her he never made promises he could not keep. The first was true: whether he died or lived, he would return. Whether breathing or not, he was absolutely positive Tails would insist on bringing him home. The second promise was easy. He would make time for her, no matter what his situation. Now she asked him to promise her that they would be fine. It was a clause that he could not guarantee. So instead of promising, he ducked out from under the oath: "I don't make promises I can't keep."


	7. The First Letter

"The team of agents you requested was sent to your fiancé when you left Station Square. Now, focus!" Sonic glared at the black, thickly built wolf that stood in front of him. He had arrived at the G.U.N. camp in Blue Hill Zone late the night before, three days after his departure from the city he called home. Amy had not come to see him off that morning, and he had to admit that he was hurt by her absence. If Knuckles had not dragged him along, he probably would have run back just to see her. Travel had been uneventful, but ever since his arrival, things had only gone downhill.

The leader of the team was a harsh timber wolf that did not take slack and refused to have any hesitance on the part of his "army," as he liked to call it. Sonic had tried to point out that his army only consisted of twenty members, but all he received for his logic was a talking-to he would not soon forget. He constantly found himself butting heads with the wolf. This time, it was over Amy.

Tails glanced up at him nervously. "Sonic, please. We really need to focus on the issue at hand."

"Thank you, fox," snapped the wolf. "I want to make some things very clear from the beginning. There are rules on my base, and I expect them to be adhered to. One: no communication is allowed with the enemy unless run by me first."

"And if she contacts me?" growled Sonic.

"Then you keep your maw shut and come talk to me. Two, _always _refer to me as General Black."

"That's original."

"_Three,_" growled Black, his annoyance obvious. "None of our technology is allowed to be used for communication."

"What?!" yelped Sonic, dropping the sarcastic tone with one of shock.

"You heard me, hedgehog. You cannot use any military technology for communication. With _anyone._"

"Why the heck would you say that?!"

"It's too easy for the enemy to intercept it. If you need to contact someone, do it through the local post office. The factory town is about fifteen miles from here. Mail whatever you need to discreetly and directly through the office. No boxes."

"And if they need to contact us?" inquired Tails, asking before the seething Sonic found it fit to do so.

"Tell them to address the letters to Tiria Coyote. She's a trustworthy source living in the factory town, a friend of mine. She'll deliver the letters to us once a week."

Black continued his list of rules, but Sonic was not paying him any mind. The idea that he would have to contact Amy through letters each time he wanted to talk to her was painful. The communication would be silent, and it would take at least a week to do so. He was impatient as it was, but he had promised to talk to her every day he was here. It would be extremely difficult to do that now. "Dismissed!"

The sharp voice made him jump, and Sonic glanced at Tails with a blank look. The kitsune sighed. "Most of the rules were nonsense, but he wants you to meet with Luktani this evening, between our camps, at eight o'clock."

Sonic nodded, his hope of finally being able to contact Amy severely dampened. Tails seemed to understand, and smiled softly. "Hey, don't worry about it. I anticipated this, and bought you something right before we left." The kitsune pulled out a complete stationary set, ready to write the second its owner felt so-called. It was a basic white set, so as not to embarrass the one who would be using it with flowers and decorations, but it contained all the supplies one could ever need for a decent letter. "You can buy more paper and envelopes at the post office when you run low," he explained, "so don't feel like you need to save it."

Immediately, Sonic brightened. "Thanks, lil' bro."

"No problem. Now, I suggest you get ready for your meeting with Luktani tonight. My guess is it'll be pretty interesting."

"Yeah," muttered Sonic, not planning to listen to anything Tails said in the next hour. He took the letter-writing supplies and rushed into his room, which he was sharing with the fox. The meager accommodations were clearly purchased with a military's budget, as the room's furniture consisted only of two cots, a bedside table, one writing desk, and a beaten down rug. Tails had set up his computer on the writing desk, but Sonic was not concerned about finding a place to write. He snatched up the nearest book to bear down on and sat on his cot, thinking about how to start. Never had he been much of a letter writer, but it looked like he wasn't going to have much of a choice in the matter. With a deep breath, he put pen to paper and began:

_Dear Amy,_

_First, let me tell you I'm sorry. I fully intended to call you, as I promised, but it didn't work out. I'm alright, though. Blue Hill Zone is just as I expected: cold and wet. It's been raining ever since we got here, and it's been just above freezing the entire time. Luckily, the rooms seem to be relatively warm. At least I haven't frozen yet. Tails is worried about his computers, though. I guess they get cold, too._

_The leader of this crazy operation is a black wolf who insists we call him "General Black." Personally, I think this is ironic and uncreative. I wonder what his real name is? I'll come up with a nickname for him sooner or later. What do you think of Blackie? Too easy? Eh, it'll do for now. He's definitely a stickler for rules and regulations. It's his fault I can't call you. Tails found a way for me to keep in contact, though, as you can tell. I'll write you every day, even though the mail only goes in and out once a week. I truly am sorry._

_I'm meeting with Luktani tonight, which will probably be last week by the time you get this. Blackie assured me he sent the team of agents to my apartment for you. You're still staying there, right? Don't worry about keeping it clean or anything. I don't care. You can stay there until I get back if you want, or you can stay with Cream or rent your own apartment. But no matter what you do, make sure the agents don't infiltrate my stash of Swiss Rolls. They're hidden on the top shelf of the pantry. You can have one if you want, just don't let them know they're there._

_I really hate the rain here. It'll be hard enough to sneak past Blackie, get out and run, but it'll pretty obvious where I've been when I come back sopping wet. Is it raining in Station Square? If it is, and you miss me, just go outside. I can pretty much guarantee you I've got rain, too. You can think of it as being with me. Y'know, at the park, right before I left. If it's not raining, look at the stars. I promise, I'll look at them too, whenever I can. Whether they're covered by clouds or not, I will. I love you, Amy Rose. Never forget that._

_~Sonic_

Sonic read over his letter a couple of times, somewhat ashamed at his penmanship, but content with what he had written. He snatched up an envelope and stuck the letter inside, addressing it to his own mailbox at the apartment. Wondering if he could run to the post office and back before he had to meet with Luktani, he glanced at the clock on Tails' computer. He still had three hours. "Plenty of time," commented Sonic to himself. He stepped out of his room and began to walk towards the exit, keeping a cautious eye out for General Black.

However, while he was so concerned with avoiding that, he ran smack into an all-too-familiar crimson echidna. "What are you doing?" Knuckles inquired, his amethyst eyes glinting with suspicion.

"Why do you care?" snapped Sonic.

"Because your life is at stake, and I don't want to be the one who has to tell Amy you died being an idiot."

"Aw, you care?"

"No, but I'm not dealing with the waterworks."

Sonic snorted with distaste. "Fine. If you must know, I'm going to run this to the post office. Happy?"

"Do you have permission from Black?"

"Why do I need it?"

"Sonic, you know why. If he doesn't know you're gone, then you'll just get yourself into trouble."

"Luktani's agreed on a truce!" argued the hedgehog.

"That's tonight. She said nothing about beforehand. Sonic, I'll take the letter, okay? Tails wants you, anyway. He wants to rig you up with some sort of communicator before you go."

Reluctantly, Sonic handed the letter over to the echidna. He trusted Knuckles to get the letter to its destination, but he just wanted to escape. Being confined like this and handled as if he was glass was driving him nuts. He growled softly to himself: "And I haven't even gotten through the first day."


	8. Out of the Shadows

The rain was going to kill him long before Luktani did. Sonic's ears drooped from the amount of water pressing down on them, and his fur was completely soaked. The freezing weather was not helping at all. He swore if Luktani did not show up in five minutes he would leave. "I promised a truce, not torture," he muttered to himself.

As he stood there looking like an imbecile in an empty field, his mind drifted back to the letter he wrote right before he left. He was a bit concerned that Knuckles would read it, or worse, not deliver it, but he knew he had to trust him. At this point, he was his only hope of contacting her. Ever since he had left, he felt extremely empty without her, and was desperate to talk to her again. Unconsciously, he closed his eyes and smiled, letting the rain carry him back to the park where he spent his final hours with his fiancée.

He jumped as a pelt brushed against his. This one was surprisingly dry, despite the fact that rain was still coming down in buckets. When he turned around to face whoever was there, however, the field was completely devoid of life. Now extremely wary, Sonic stayed alert and his eyes jumped from place to place, wondering if the lynx would hold up her end of the bargain. A low growl came from behind him, and he whirled around, adopting a "fight or flight" stance. Again, however, he was alone in the field.

"Are you alright, Sonic?" The hedgehog nearly jumped out of his fur, but quickly recovered when he realized the voice was Tails'. Communication was key, and a listening device was attached subtly to the hedgehog's mp3 player. The one ear bud he had in his ear played Tails' voice instead of music.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Has Luktani shown up yet?"

"No." Tails spoke no more, so as Sonic could listen to his surroundings effectively. He heard rustling from all over the place, and it bothered him. "Are you getting this, Tails?"

"All the background noise? Yeah, why?"

Sonic could not answer, due to his being slammed to the ground by something unseen. He immediately curled into a tight ball to protect himself from whatever was attacking. He could feel claws and teeth scraping against his quills, but with the Chaos energy he constantly had in his veins, he shot forward and around, slamming into his attacker. He uncurled gracefully and landed with skill, staying crouched and keeping his eyes peeled for his opponent.

Out of the blackness, he saw a light lavender spark, followed by a dark violet ball of flame hurtling towards him. With a yelp, he dove to the side and rolled out of the way of the danger. Suddenly, what little light there was disappeared and all sense of his surroundings vanished. He knew he was standing, and that was it. Something brushed against his side, and he slammed into it, hoping to destroy whatever it was that was hunting him. However, he went directly through it, and instead it made him feel incredibly cold, to the point that he swore he would die from frostbite. Refusing to succumb to it, he removed himself from whatever he was in, and the feeling dissipated.

"Who are you?" he snapped, calling out into the darkness. There was no vocal reply, but two lavender-colored eyes opened in front of him. They stared directly at him, and he felt as if they were looking at his soul. He backed up a step, not taking his eyes off of the pair in front of him, but trying to find the body of the creature. Suddenly, more eyes appeared around the black abyss. The colors varied from red to violet, but none were like the bright lavender eyes in front of him. He was never afraid of new enemies, but this unknown ghostlike figure was quite disturbing. Crouching low and glaring at the pair of eyes in front of him, Sonic tried to figure out just who he was up against.

"Care to tell me who you are instead of staring me down?" he barked.

The darkness faded a little, but not enough for him to see his surroundings. He could, however, see his enemy. A pitch black wolf stood on all fours in front of him, two dragon-like wings sprouting from its shoulder blades and extending to an impressive eight-foot wingspan. There was no color on the beast except for its eyes. Even the fire that licked at its paws was black and cast no light. The wolf was at least four feet tall, but its head was bent so as to stare Sonic directly in the eye. Similar wolves surrounded the hedgehog, all equally as menacing.

"Hm. I suppose that was effective. What do you want? Am I in your territory or something?"

Finally, the black wolf spoke. "You are the last in a long line of heroes. It is the goal of the Shadow Wolves to kill all who oppose the Master."

"Hey, hey, I don't know about you, but I had no clue I was in a 'line' of any sort, and I have no business with wolves. Actually, I'm looking for a lynx. You haven't happened to stumble across one, have you?"

"Fool!" hissed the wolf, stepping forward. Sonic involuntarily took a step back. "The lynx belongs to us now. She was nothing but a tool to get you here. We have killed all of the Heroes of Legend… except you. However, the lynx made a truce with you, yes?"

"As far as I know."

"Yes… she will be punished for that. But we will keep our word. Return to your camp, hedgehog, and live your last few hours out happily. Tomorrow you will discover the true meaning of war."

With the final word, the blackness, as well as the wolves, dissipated away. Rain once again became Sonic's primary concern. With a sigh, he turned and bolted back towards camp, where many curious team members were awaiting his return.

Tails, however, was the first one to reach him. "Sonic! We lost your signal right after you asked about the background noise! What happened?"

"It's a long story, Tails… I'd rather wait and tell you tomorrow. I'm tired."

"But Sonic, what did Luktani say? We have to know so we can prepare! Tomorrow might be too late!"

The hedgehog glanced at his adoptive brother with a solemn expression. "Tails, Luktani is the least of our worries right now. Just... Let's just say all you need to know is that I'm being hunted by an elite pack of giant wolves. G'night."

"Wh-what? Sonic!" Tails exclaimed, protesting greatly. His cries, however, went unheeded, and the hedgehog collapsed, exhausted, on his makeshift bed.

* * *

Knuckles sat with Tails in the main room. Most of the other team members, including General Black, had retired to their cots for the evening. A few stray soldiers would pass through on their way to the kitchens for a midnight snack, but they were essentially alone. Tails was obviously concerned with Sonic's short-lived revelation, and was doing a phenomenal amount of research on any sort of elite wolf pack. However, each search came up fruitless.

Eventually, the echidna grew bored of watching Tails type and groan, and decided to bring up the topic that had been bothering him. "Tails?"

"Yeah?" sighed the kitsune, glancing away from his computer.

"Do you think Sonic's really in danger?"

"I'm not sure, Knuckles. I thought he was, but now I don't know what to think. He left us with next to no information, and there's nothing recorded for me to look into. I don't know what else to do."

"Yeah… we'll just have to find out I'm sure he'll tell us tomorrow."

"He better. If we don't have enough defenses and he keeps acting so nonchalant, he's going to get himself killed. I don't want to know how Amy would take losing him a second time."

"If we do our jobs, she won't have to. Now let's get some sleep. I have a feeling we'll need all the energy we can get tomorrow."

* * *

I'm SO sorry for the short chapter and long wait for an update, guys... I really am. I feel like a moron. But I promise, I'll work harder. At least, I'll try. Tales of Knighthood's and Soul of a Hero's updates are on their way as well. Hope you did enjoy it, short as it was. Sorry!

~Wolf~


	9. Power of the Demons

"Out, all of you, _out!"_ shrieked Amy, bashing the heads of the so-called "guards" with her now seldom seen hammer. Swiss Roll crumbs littered the floor as the group of G.U.N. soldiers bolted out of the apartment room door in order to avoid the angry hedgehog's wrath. A few of the more selfish ones left with more bumps on their heads, but Amy still managed to chase them all out of Sonic's apartment.

"And stay out!" she added with a huff. Whirling around, she locked the door behind her and began tidying the apartment. While she doubted Sonic would care in the slightest whether or not she kept it clean, it would drive her crazy if she stayed in it while it was dirty. She began her mini-quest on the mantle, where she rearranged the few knick-knacks Sonic kept. One of them was the fake Chaos Emerald Knuckles left in his possession. Another was an unidentifiable gadget built by Tails. It was one of the kit's earlier inventions, so Amy was not even sure if it worked, but she was definitely not going to break it in order to find out.

The final trinket was her personal favorite: a small, blue-velvet box with a letter in it. While the box was now devoid of anything worth something, it meant more to her than any jewelry box filled with priceless gems. It had held her engagement ring, which was now on her finger, and the letter was Sonic's first, and supposedly last, confession of love to her. She smiled as she placed it in the center of the mantle, then moved on to the kitchen.

As she walked over to it, she passed the foyer, and subsequently, the mail slot. She gazed at it somewhat solemnly, but moved on to continue her cleaning quest. Why hadn't Sonic called yet? He had promised! With a sigh, Amy tried to tell herself there was probably a perfectly good reason for his silence. The only problem with that was the still-small voice in the back of her head saying: "Yes. Death is a very good reason."

All he felt was a sharp stab in his ribs. With a yelp, Sonic jumped up and glared at the intruder. An all-too-familiar crimson echidna stood with a ballpoint pen in his hand, looking suspicious and guilty.

"What the heck was that for?" exclaimed Sonic, resisting the urge to punch the Guardian squarely on the nose.

"It's almost two o'clock. I wasn't going to bother, but Tails wants you to explain what happened last night. You kind of left us hanging."

"Fine, I'll be there in a minute." After Knuckles left, Sonic rose to his feet and arched his back in both directions. He yawned, did a few lightning fast lunges, and shook himself awake. Amy had once told him his morning stretch made him look like a cat, and he had to agree, but it worked to get him moving. With a glance at the clock, he reminded himself this morning routine wasn't being done in the morning, and for once in his life he was actually on a time crunch. Still somewhat tired, Sonic entered Tails' computer room, only to find General Black staring down his long muzzle at him.

"Well, g'mornin', Blackie!"

"It's General Black to you, hedgehog, and morning passed two hours ago. Sleeping in like this is unacceptable."

"You didn't have the night I did. Trust me, I bet you would've slept even longer than me after that."

"Speaking of 'that', your kitsune friend is in the other room. I suggest you log what happened last night with him."

"Sure."

"Oh, and I expect you to always log the day's events, no matter how tiring, directly after they occur or at the end of the day."

Sonic refused to reply, but walked straight past the wolf and into the opposite room. A bright smile lit the kitsune's face when he entered, followed by a hug that Sonic swore could break ribs. "Hey, lil' bro', how're you?"

"Fine, now. I was really worried that you were sleeping that late. You've never done that before."  
"Sure I have!"

"Yeah, but only after you turned Super. Never just after a simple talk with a rival."

"Oh… yeah, about that. I never did talk with Luktani."

"What?"

Sonic proceeded to explain what occurred the night before in excruciating detail, mentioning everything from the lead wolf's lavender eyes to his approximate guess at the pack's size. Tails nodded and gasped at the appropriate times, scribbling everything down into an old notebook. He then asked Sonic to describe the lead wolf's physical features. Although confused, the hedgehog complied. After Sonic described the dark fire for the umpteenth time, he finally asked what the kitsune was doing.

"Oh, I'm just drawing," replied Tails.

"I didn't know you drew."

"How do you think I get blueprints?" chortled Tails, his sapphire eyes glinting mischievously.

"Alright, fine, but what are you drawing?"

"Your new nemesis, apparently." He turned the notebook around, showing a quick sketch of a black demon-wolf.

"Wow, Tails. That looks just like him. Except colorless and a lot less freaky."

"I can't work miracles, y'know."

"True. So what's our plan of action?"

"You really need to talk to General Black about that," explained Tails. "And before you complain, you have to remember he _is_ in charge."

"I don't see why," muttered Sonic.

"Yes, you do. Just give him my notes, and I'll be in there in about thirty minutes. I have to work on some computers to make sure they're functioning properly out here. Hopefully, you'll have a plan by the time I get in there."

"I doubt it."

"Just go on!" moaned Tails playfully, pushing the notebook into the hedgehog's hands.

"I'm going, I'm going!" laughed Sonic. As chipper as he was with his adopted brother, his jovial mood vanished the second he entered the General's presence yet again. The wolf looked as cold as he possibly could, as if the last thing he wanted to do was spend time with the blue hedgehog.

"Well?"

"I'm supposed to talk to you about a plan of action. Oh, and I'm supposed to give you this." Sonic shoved Tails' notebook into the General's hands, as he was expecting him to have a confused expression when he saw Tails' notes and sketch. However, the expression on the wolf's face was as stolid as could be, with no emotion whatsoever revealing itself in his features.

"This is a problem."

"Wow. Your powers of observation are astounding!"

"No smart talk, hedgehog! This is serious. These wolves haven't been seen for hundreds of years, and their arrival only means death is certain."

"Okay, you seem to know a lot about them. What're they like?"

"Firstly, they're called Wolves of Demon's Shadow, and before you ask, Demon's Shadow is a rocky overhang about twenty-five miles from here. It's the perfect position for war, as they can see everything around them and no one can see them unless they're specifically looking for the overhang."

"That's oddly convenient."

"Yes. Their leader is always referred to as Demon Fang, and will choose the pack's victims. They've been silent for a while now, but as you can see, they've risen again to kill you, thinking you're a legendary hero of some sort."

"Hey, what'd'ya mean, they 'think'?" snapped Sonic.

"Now is not the time to worry about titles! No one has _ever _killed a Wolf of Demon's Shadow before, and there's no way to find out how. We can't plan for this."

"We have to," replied Sonic, turning away from the wolf. He glanced at the door, wishing with all his might that Tails or even Knuckles would walk in and get him out of this position. "If we don't find a way to kill them first, they'll kill me."

"You're easy prey for them, hedgehog."

"Not if I don't want to be," barked Sonic, whirling around to face the General again. "We have to go for it. If we don't attack them, they'll just go for us."

"Um, Sonic? I hate to tell you this," commented Tails, leaning into the room, "but your new friends are here."

Without a single word, Sonic bolted outside, skidding to sharp halt as the blackness from the night before once again consumed everything. He could barely hear General Black and Tails calling after him, but he knew it was far too late for them to catch up to him. Taking a deep breath of the noxious air, Sonic tried to absorb his surroundings and find the lavender-eyed leader.

A noise from in front of him caused him to jump slightly, but he quickly saw it was not a wolf. Rather, it was a very familiar lynx, now broken, battered, and far less attractive than when she had tried to kill him. "Hey, Luktani. Long time, no see, eh?"

"Get out. Get out, _now. _Go home, get away from here. You don't stand a—" With a low grunt, the emaciated lynx collapsed at his feet. Sonic stepped back, now highly disturbed, but when he felt a cold pelt brush against him he quickly changed his mind. Above Luktani's suspiciously still body, two lavender eyes opened. The wolf stepped forward and revealed his full size to the hedgehog, his wings spread threateningly and his expression cold and merciless.

"Demon Fang."

"I see you know my name. That's quite impressive for one night."

"Yeah, well, I have connections. What'd you do to Luktani?"

"The lynx? Don't worry about her. She's no longer your concern."

"That's not what I asked," growled Sonic.

"I recommend that you keep silent and accept the answer you are given," snapped Demon Fang, his lavender eyes glowing brighter as his temper grew.

"Fine. What do you want from me?"

"We went over this the previous evening. I will not go over it again. Are you prepared to die?"

"Not without a fight," sniffed Sonic, preparing to lunge for the wolf. Just as he was ready to release the pent up springs to send him flying at his opponent, the wolf screamed in agony and the black mist faded. Sonic flew into action, knowing that whatever distracted the wolf was his only chance of winning. His quills slammed directly into Demon Fang's chest, toppling him over. The wolf's claws scraped against Sonic's chest as he struggled to shove the hedgehog off of him. He succeeded in a few tries, when Sonic's willpower no longer exceeded his pain tolerance. The hedgehog fell in a crumpled heap a few yards away, but Knuckles soon helped him to his feet.

"Don't stop now, Sonic, we have a chance. Go!" yelled Knuckles, dragging the hedgehog back into battle with him. Tails was now fighting as well, throwing small grenades and keeping the rest of the pack away from their leader. Sonic leapt towards Demon Fang with Knuckles at his side, and the two fought perfectly in sync. Whenever Sonic leapt out from his attack, Knuckles ran in with his, and with Tails keeping all the other wolves at bay, the system seemed to be foolproof.

Then Demon Fang pulled one trick the trio of heroes never saw coming. With a howl that could wake the dead, the black mist returned, this time stronger and thicker than ever before. All three collapsed, as well as the rest of the miniature army General Black had with him. Demon Fang took deep breaths of the air as if he had stepped outside after being trapped in a coal mine. He glared at the ones at his feet struggling to breathe.

Tails had passed out, and Sonic knew he wasn't too far behind his brother. It was when the leader stepped over his brother, prepared to kill the fox where he lay, that Sonic forced himself to his feet. He raced over to the wolf and began a series of homing attacks that should have been simple to pull off, but each hit seemed to hurt Sonic more than his opponent. However, it distracted the wolf enough to get him away from Tails.

The attack the hedgehog performed next was one he had not reverted to since his first fight with Luktani. Using a special form of spin dash, he flew directly into the wolf's neck with his backspines. The toxin in them, while not strong enough to kill, was enough to get the wolf to back off and lose the smoke screen he had conjured. "Get out!" shouted Sonic, ears laid back as he landed on his feet. "Just get away from here!"

Demon Fang stumbled a bit, his eyes foggy from the poison, and he stepped back. "Fine. But you will not be so lucky next time, hedgehog. Be prepared." He howled again, and the Wolves of Demon's Shadow took off into the sky, flapping their dragon wings in unison and forming a new cloud of noxious smoke. Sonic felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to face Knuckles, who looked just as shocked as Sonic felt.

"Um… good job."

Knowing that was the best compliment he would ever receive from the echidna, Sonic nodded his appreciation before walking over to Tails. The kitsune was coughing, but coming around to the land of the living. Sonic helped him to his feet in silence, but the fox soon commented on the events. "Sonic… this is bigger than all of us. We can't fight them."

"We just did."

"It wasn't good enough. We need more… things. More weapons, more soldiers, more planning… Sonic, this is going to be an all out war!" panted Tails, his breathless rant only one symptom of his anxiety.

"Not now, Tails, I—"

"Sonic! Over here! You've got to see this."

* * *

Yeah, I updated. =D I feel... victorious. Kind of.

Anyhow, working on three stories simultaneously, not to mention artwork and the schoolwork looming in the distance, is really taking its toll on me. So I decided on the story that will take my primary focus: this one. I'll work on the other ones as I feel like it, but for now, this one is my main project. Hope you people following Tales of Knighthood and Soul of a Hero aren't too miffed, but I had to choose at some point.

Thanks for sticking with me,

~Wolf~


End file.
